2023/10/09 by Joshua Hurtado Hurtado · 1 voice
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies #Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion #Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/13576275.2023.2266373
openalex publication_date 2023/10/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Immortality constitutes a very human desire and its pursuit arguably shapes prominent features of human societies.In the twentyfirst century, capitalism develops technologies that promise immortality as indefinite survival.Scholars who study immortality often showcase the links between technology, social structures and immortality projects, but a critical inquiry is needed to examine how (techno-)capitalism creates immortality projects that expand the frontiers of capital in contemporary societies.In this article, I highlight how techno-capitalism configures three prominent immortality imaginaries: transhumanist digital immortality, radical biological life-extension, and cryonics.I identify three tendencies of techno-capitalism -1) expanding commodification to new realms of life, 2) creating new forms of alienation and 3) subordinating life to the private accumulation of capital -and explain how they shape the immortality imaginaries.I argue that pursuing techno-capitalist immortality would induce significant harms for human beings, promising freedom from death but actually sustaining technocapitalism's exploitative relations.